This invention generally relates to the mechanical amplification of voice and percussion produced sound at crowded spectator events, and more particularly to the adaptation of a megaphone to include vibratory membranes formed in openings of the megaphone tube such that when the membranes are excited by percussion, the drummed sound produced is concentrated in a directed beam radiated in one direction.
The use of separate megaphone and percussion instruments at sporting and other crowded spectator events is well known. Typically, megaphones are used to broadcast chants and other messages at a level of loudness above the normal din of the crowd, by concentrating the voice-produced sound into a directed beam so that most of the radiated sound energy is transmitted in one direction. Sometimes percussion instruments, such as drums, complement the use of megaphones by producing sounds of deinite pitch and timber or marking rhythm and otherwise producing special effects, depending upon the vibratory characteristics of the drum and the effect desired. In conventional, simultaneous use of drums and megaphones, different persons are required to operate each device which necessitates a degree of cooperation and coordination to produce the desired effect, in addition to the availability of such personnel to perform the individual functions. Also, the high cost of drums, especially for teams on a low budget, sometimes precludes their use at such events with the resulting inability to produce the desired effect.
In cases where both drum and megaphonic sound is available, the drum is usually used to produce sound with no definite pitch to mark rhythm or establish cadence. Drum membranes with a relatively high degree of tension are used to produce such sound; however, due to the high degree of tension in such membranes to achieve the desired effect, the membranes have a naturally short, vibratory period and are known to produce sound waves at relatively low noise levels which are often not heard by the crowd, in part due to the omni-directional sound pattern radiating from the drum. In cases where drums are not available, megaphone operators sometimes strike the walls of the megaphone to produce a drum sound. However, the walls of the megaphone are poor soundboards and any vibration of the walls produces very little sound. Therefore, at events where both voice and percussion sound amplification are desired, conventional megaphones appear to make poor air resonators to produce drum sounds, whereas separate drum instruments used to produce sound to mark rhythm often operate at low sound levels and are not effective.